One More Try
by SoAJic
Summary: Sequel to Father Figure. Riddick's becoming persistant when it comes to getting Jack to listen to him.
1. Chapter 1

She walked down the street in the rain with her hands shoved deep into her pockets. It had been so long, too long, since she had anything to eat and her stomach was voicing its disappointment. She knew she couldn't hold out too much longer, and who knows when the next time she would be able to scrounge up any money would be. With a heavy sigh she made her decision. She continued walking until she was standing outside of a small restaurant. It wasn't much but it wasn't like she cared. She made her way to around to the back of the restaurant and hefted herself up into the dumpster, looking for anything that could pass as edible.

"Hey!" she yelped when a large bag of trash came crashing down on her.

A man poked his head over the top of the dumpster and looked at her curiously. "Sorry," he apologized, "I didn't know anybody was in there... What are you doing in there anyway?"

"What's it look like? I'm eating, that's what." She stuffed some more food into her face then filled her pockets before she climbed out of the dumpster.

"None of that looked too appetizing." He observed. She shoved her hands back in to her pockets and shrugged. "I could get you something better if you want to come inside."

"No cash."

He pushed open the back door. "I offered. Come on." He smiled at her and she eyed him carefully before turning back and stepping inside. "You can have a seat there and I'll bring you something in a second." He gestured to a small table in the corner of the kitchen with only one chair and she sat down, brushing the rain from her clothes as he walked through a swinging door and into what she assumed was the dinning area.

After a few minutes he returned, wiping his hands on his apron. "So what do you want to eat?"

"I'm not picky." she admitted truthfully as he moved around the kitchen, grabbing little odds and ends before he made his way to the stove. "Do you own this place?" She was curious, that was all.

"Nope, but I'm the only one here tonight and I just closed up." He finished up what he was cooking on the stove and slid it from the pan onto a plate. He brought it over to her and sat it down on the table in front of her. "Pasta. It's probably not the best but it ain't too bad either." He pulled an empty milk crate over to the table and sat across from her. "So...?" She looked up from the plate of pasta she had been shoveling into her mouth and waited. "What's your name?"

She swallowed hard, clearing her mouth. "Jack."

He waited for a minute but she went back to eating. "I'm Todd." She nodded and continued eating. "You aren't very talkative."

"Nothing to talk about."

He waited until she was done eating before he began talking again. "You got a place to stay?"

"Wanna let me crash in that dumpster back there?"

His nose crinkled at the hint of laughter in her voice. "Don't you have parents or something?"

She shook her head no. "Last time I really had a place to stay was a while ago. It wasn't a big place but it was okay. The guy I was staying with..." She stopped as a frown crossed her features. "It's a long story."

"I have time. You probably do too since you don't have anywhere to go." He folded his arms on the table and rested his chin on top of them.

"He promised he'd be back." She said with a shrug, "That was a long time ago."

"Well," Todd stood up and untied his apron, then grabbed his coat from the hook on the back of the door. "I've got a couch you could crash on. Nothing fancy, but it beats that dumpster out there."

She stood up and looked him over. Something about the look he was giving her made her uneasy, but the promise of somewhere warm to sleep won out over her better judgment in the end.


	2. Chapter 2

Todd poked his head out of the door to the kitchen when he heard the bell above the restaurant entrance jingle. "I'll be with you in a second," he the man standing in the entranceway. "You can go ahead and seat yourself if you want." He ducked back into the kitchen. "Hey Jack," He started. She turned away from the sink where she was washing dishes. "You can take off if you want. There's only one guy out there and I think I can handle it."  
  
She nodded and untied her apron then tossed it onto the counter next to the sink. "See you tomorrow then." She gave him a quick wave then slipped out the back down.  
  
Todd walked out of the kitchen and into the dinning area to find the man still standing near the door. "Take your pick." He chuckled and gestured at all the empty tables.  
  
The big man brushed past him and sat down at a larger table in the middle of the room. He picked up a menu and glanced over it before setting it back on the table.  
  
"So what can I get you?" Todd asked while the man lifted his goggles and rubbed his hand over his face.  
  
"Water."  
  
"Anything else?"  
  
The man shook his head and Todd went back to the kitchen. He grabbed a clean glass off of a shelf and filled it with water from the tap. He returned with the water and sat it down on the table. The man took a sip, then sat it back down. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and looked up at Todd.  
  
"Anything else I can get for you?"  
  
The man adjusted his sitting position and rested his elbows on the table. "I saw you got a kid working around here."  
  
"Are you one of those child labor law people? Cause I have nothing to say if you are. You can take up whatever you need to with the owner."  
  
The man shook his head. "I ain't one of them type of people. She here?"  
  
"She left already." Todd replied. The man remained silent and unmoving. "She'll be in tomorrow, you might be able to catch her then."  
  
"You know where she's staying?"  
  
Todd nodded, "The shelter a few blocks over." 


	3. Chapter 3

Jack knew someone was following her, she didn't even have to turn to around to be sure. As she rounded the corner she took a quick glance over her shoulder to see if she could make out exactly who was on her tail. "Damn," She mumbled to herself as she picked up her pace. She had gotten a good enough look. Her mind was racing and her feet felt the need to go just as fast. She ran for a few blocks, hoping she was faster than him, and when she looked back he was gone. Her face pulled into a frown of confusion as she slowed, but it was quickly replaced with one of surprised when her head snapped forward as she connected with something in front of her.

"What the hell are you running from me for?" His hand clutched her shoulder to steady her as he waited for her response.

"I don't know." she mumbled as she pulled herself away from him and took a few steps backward. His eyes narrowed as he down at her. "I just thought..." She paused and chewed on her bottom lip. "I just thought you were someone else. That's all."

He reached out and grabbed her arm, "You lie." When he felt her body he relaxed his hold on her. "Let's go."

"Where?"

He shook his head as he replied, "I got a place. Cant be out here on the street." He began walking, dragging her along beside him, until she stopped suddenly. "Will you just come on, kid? I don't have time for this hissy fit bullshit."

Jack folded her arms across her chest. "I'm not going anywhere with you." She told him firmly.

"Do _not_ cause a scene." He said through tightly clenched teeth. He grabbed her by the arm again and this time she didn't protest.

They walked for a few blocks, until he stopped in front of a cheap motel. "This is it?"

"Like you can complain, sleeping in a fucking shelter." He shoved her roughly into the room he had checked into days ago and she sat down on the bed. He rested his back against the back of the door once he'd closed it and let his eyes wander over her slowly. "You...You've grown."

"I've done a lot of things." She replied averting his eyes. "You wouldn't know that though, would you? Of course not. Wouldn't know a lot of things."

He licked his lips, thinking of how to reply to her. "I guess I wouldn't," He answered truthfully, shaking his head. "But that's no reason for you to act the way you did out there."

Jack stood up with a snort, "I can act however the fuck I want to. Who the fuck are you to tell me what to do? You stopped having that privilege when you ditched me."

"I didn't ditch you!"

"Like fuck you didn't!" Her fists clenched and her nostrils flared as her anger began to boil over. "You said you'd be back! You said a few days. That turned into months, then years. I heard when you broke out of Butcher Bay, and I waited everyday for you to come back like you promised. Then Imam went and keeled over and I was really alone. No fuckin place to go, nothing. And you still didn't come back for me."

"I'm here now, so don't say I didn't come back for you." he interjected. He pushed himself away from the door and walked across the room. "I stayed away from you for you own good. Then when I heard about Imam and I realized you were probably on your own, I came looking for you. Nobody told you to get a fucking transport of the planet and send me searching all over the damn universe for you!" He removed his goggles and rubbed his eyes before he replaced them. "I didn't want you back on the streets, kid. I knew if I was with you, then at least I could protect you."

"Protect me from what? Protect me from sick fucks like you?" She moved towards the door. "That's what you came back for, right? You came back to get your fix, right? Fuck with my head some more, make me trust you and give myself to you? Fuck you, Riddick!" She opened the door and left, letting it slam behind her.


	4. Chapter 4

"Hey," Todd smiled brightly when Jack came through the back door of the restaurant. She took off her jacket and hung it before dawning an apron and washing her hands. "Some big guy came in looking for you last night after you left. He didn't leave a name or anything. I told him he might be able to catch you here today. He seemed kinda pushy though, so I told him where you're staying. He's-"

"Yeah..." She dried her hands on a towel and shrugged. "He found me. We talked."

"Oh. You wanna talk about it?"

"Not really much to talk about. He saw me on the street, we went back to his motel and we talked for a few minutes, then I left." She noted the concern on Todd's face and added, "He's the guy I was staying with."

"Your dad?" He asked curiously.

Jack laughed, "I couldn't tell you where my dad was if I tried, my mother either for that matter. He just took care of me for a while after some bad times. Then one night he was gone. He said he'd come back but that was like three years ago. I honestly don't know what he wants now."

Todd sat on the counter, "A big guy like that just took you in?"

"It's a long story."

"You say that every time I ask you something."

She sighed and sat down on a wobbly stool. "Fine. You want the long or short version?"

"Whatever you feel like sharing."

"I don't feel like sharing any of it." She got up from the stool and pushed it back into a corner.

"The short version then."

"Figured as much." She sighed, trying to figure out where to begin. "I was 12. He saved me from some bad stuff. I trusted him, latched onto him like a leech. He didn't seem to mind. He got us a place to stay, kept me fed, took care of me."

Todd's brow furrowed when she paused. "What happened?"

She shrugged. "I shouldn't have trusted him. He got inside my head. I was stupid and I didn't know better. I took what he said as the gospel. He was a saint to me, nothing he did was wrong, despite what other people told me."

"What'd he do?"

She shook her head again, but didn't answer his question. "It's not his fault and I don't blame him. I don't blame him for a lot of things, even though I probably should, huh?"

Todd thought for a moment, "I don't know. You only gave me the short version so I cant judge." He hopped down off the counter. Jack nodded and went into the dinning area, leaving him to mull over what she had told him. He couldn't possibly imagine what sort of 'bad stuff' would leave a man like that to take care of a young girl, or why the man would even want the burden at all. He followed Jack into the dinning area, ready to ask, but stopped short when the bell above the entrance rang and the door opened.

"You again," Jack rolled her eyes as she finished straightening up the tables.

"I'm just trying to you talk to you, kid." Riddick told her. He let the door close softly and began to approach her, but stopped when he noticed Todd standing towards the back of the room. "Mind if she and I take a little walk?"

Todd looked to Jack quickly before answering, "Actually, she's got some things to take care of in the kitchen."

"You don't have to cover for me." She told Todd. "I'm not going anywhere, Riddick."

Todd's eyes widened as he put the name to the face. "Richard Riddick?"

"What's it to you?" Riddick pulled out a chair and sat down. "You don't want to talk to me Jack, that's fine." He rested an arm on the table and fiddled with the silverware. "Can I get a glass of water?" He paused as he lifted his goggles and rubbed his eyes, "Might even order something off the menu this time."

* * *

Ha, I came back finally. I know it wasnt that long, but hey, if you review it might encourage me to get the next chapter out there a little faster, who knows. 


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